Practice was over.
After going home in the afternoon, Ikuyo Kita lay down on her bed and opened the simulator.
[You have launched the Good Friend Simulator.]
[Please select a simulation target: ]
[1. Hitori Gotoh, innate talent: Guitar performance (Prodigy-level)]
[2. Ryo Yamada, innate talent: Bass performance (Admired by All-level)]
[3. Nijika Ijichi, innate talent: Drum performance (Once in a Thousand Years-level)]
[4. Toru Kitahara, innate talent: Piano performance (Transcendent-level)]
Which one should I choose? This was Ikuyo Kita's first time playing the simulator, and she didn't really understand it.
The simulator kindly listed out the talent rankings for her: Useless, Very Common, One-in-a-hundred, Once in a Thousand Years, Admired by All, Prodigy, Peerless, Transcendent…
Kitahara's piano talent is that exaggerated?
Two levels higher than Gotoh's?
Honestly, Kita really wanted to experience Hitori Gotoh's guitar talent. But Kitahara Toru's talent at that rank…
[Note: The Transcendent talent, according to statistics, has only appeared in several dozen people in all of human history.]
Sorry, Gotoh-san!
Kitahara-kun is too rare. I can't give him up.
Kita rolled across her bed, apologizing to Hitori over and over in her heart.
It's just a simulation anyway, right?
Even if I abandon Gotoh-san for Kitahara-kun's embrace, she'll forgive me, won't she?
Piano performance, here I come.
[You have chosen the target - Toru Kitahara.]
[Piano performance talent (Transcendent) has been loaded. Please make good use of this talent and become good friends with your target.]
Making friends? That's what I do best.
I can even use this chance to ask Kitahara-kun about his relationship with Ryo-senpai. Two birds with one stone, perfect.
"So, how do I play this game now?"
The simulator's interface wasn't very complicated. Options like Chat, Date, Invite as Companion, Swear Brotherhood, Give Gifts, and so on.
But the most prominent button was grayed out…
The Bond slot.
[You must first become friends with Toru Kitahara to unlock this page.]
Got it.
So I just need to make friends, right?
Begin simulation.
As Ikuyo Kita willed it, the dark page of the simulator slowly lit up with words and images.
[Mid-June, you notice an unexpected talent for piano within yourself. Soon after, you sign up for a hobby class and start practicing piano in your free time.]
[Your teacher at the class is quickly astonished by your talent. In her entire life, she has never seen a student with such ability.]
[She even praises you, saying that if you had started piano from a young age, you might already have placed in the top three at the Chopin Competition.]
That good?
Ikuyo Kita had heard of Toru Kitahara's reputation as a piano genius, but thinking he could have ranked top three in the Chopin International Piano Competition during high school was a bit much for her imagination.
[Fortunately, it isn't too late. Even if you started late, the world has never lacked late-blooming pianists. Your amateur teacher wishes to become your mentor and give you everything she can, but sadly, her skills are insufficient to guide a genius of your level.]
[Within just one week, you have already reached LV.3 in piano performance.]
Kita opened her attribute panel and glanced at her own Guitar performance, still stuck at LV.2.
After more than a year of learning music theory, and over two months of diligent practice, her guitar was only at Level 2…
Yet piano had reached Level 3 in a single week. It made Kita's feelings complicated.
So hopeless.
Still, in the simulation I'm the genius. The ones who should feel despair are others, not me. Heh heh.
Thinking that, Kita brightened up again.
Right, right. If this amateur teacher can't teach me, can't I go ask Kitahara-kun himself?
Since he's the original owner of this talent, his piano must be on a whole other level.
[You quit the hobby class and start searching for a teacher.]
[One day, during a break from practice, you tell the other members of Kessoku Band about your piano studies.]
[Among them, Nijika is the happiest, since Kessoku Band has always lacked a keyboardist.]
[Ryo is also pleased, saying that her compositions will finally have a wider range.]
Seeing these words and images from the simulator, Kita was overjoyed.
Even if it was only a simulation, the thought of making Ryo-senpai happy was enough to make her happy too.
[Hitori, on the other hand, trembles at the thought of playing guitar alone, and hides inside a trash can.]
Gotoh-san is as funny as ever.
[However...]
[The idea of a keyboardist is soon abandoned, since Kessoku Band cannot lack a vocalist. Making the keyboardist also sing lead would cause chaos. In the end, the band remained as it was. During these talks, you begin to notice that the members don't seem very concerned about Kessoku Band's future…]
Huh?
[Ryo Yamada says the band is still young, and there's no need to worry about arrangements. Just guitar, bass, and drums are enough to create amazing music.]
Is that supposed to comfort me?
[Nijika adds that the future is wide open, and that they can always invite a proper keyboardist later.]
[Hitori keeps her head down, muttering recipes to herself, as if thinking about what kind of bento to make for Toru Kitahara tomorrow.]
What? Gotoh-san, since when did you start making Kitahara-kun lunch?
Why don't I know about this?
Kita never imagined she would stumble across such juicy gossip after only ten minutes of playing the simulator.
She quickly recalled something Gotoh-san had said before about a secret crush…
Could that mysterious boy be Kitahara-kun?
[You realize that the band's spirit seems scattered. That tight bond is gone. You don't understand why this is happening…]
Yeah, why?
Kita was puzzled.
In reality, everyone was working hard together. But in this simulation, why did her teammates suddenly seem so distracted?
[One day after school, you walk near the special teaching building.]
[A beautiful sound draws your attention.]
[Like the song of a siren, it lures nearby sailors toward danger…]
A siren?
Listening to the simulator's background music, Kita kept reading.
[You arrive at a music classroom. This is Shuka High's Second Music Room, normally used for lessons. Other than the teacher, no one else should be able to open it. Inside is only one instrument, a piano…]
[But now, the music from within clearly isn't just the piano. Your curiosity takes hold, and you decide: ]
[1. Push the door open without hesitation. Monster, show me your true face!]
[2. Hesitate, then leave. This is too spooky. Might be ghosts, better get out quick.]
[3. Report it. Call the music teacher to come watch the fun.]
[4. Simulate it yourself.]
Is this even a question?
Option 1.